Martin Bicknell
Martin Paul Bicknell
Born: 14 January 1969, Guildford, Surrey
Major Teams: Surrey, England.
Known As: Martin Bicknell
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Fast Medium
Test Debut: England v Australia at Leeds, 4th Test, 1993
Latest Test: England v Australia at Birmingham, 5th Test, 1993
ODI Debut: England v New Zealand at Perth, World Series, 1990/91
Latest ODI: England v New Zealand at Wellington, 2nd ODI, 1990/91
First-Class Debut: 7-10 June 1986, Surrey v Derbyshire, The Oval.
Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2001
Best FC Batting: 110* Kent v Surrey, Canterbury, 2001
Best FC Bowling: 9-45 Surrey v Cambridge University, The Oval, 1988
Most wickets in a season: 72 (2001).
Cap 1989.
MoM Awards: Benson & Hedges Cup 1.
Tests: 2.
ODIs: 7.
Tours: England to Australia 1990-1;
England "A" to Zimbabwe 1989-90, to South Africa 1993-4.
Career Statistics:
TESTS
(including 05/08/1993)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 2 4 0 26 14 6.50 27.65 0 0 0 0
O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 87 17 263 4 65.75 3-99 0 0 130.5 3.02
ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS
(including 13/02/1991)
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 7 6 2 96 31* 24.00 92.30 0 0 2 0
O M R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling 68.5 3 347 13 26.69 3-55 0 0 31.7 5.04
FIRST-CLASS
(1986 - 2002)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 253 307 76 5350 110* 23.16 1 22 89 0
O M R W Ave BBI 5 10 SR Econ
Bowling 8052.1 1989 22748 932 24.40 9-45 37 4 51.8 2.82
LIST A LIMITED OVERS
(1986 - 2002)
M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St
Batting & Fielding 307 158 66 1432 66* 15.56 0 2 72 0
O R W Ave BBI 4w 5w SR Econ
Bowling 2485.3 9874 402 24.56 7-30 11 3 37.0 3.97
- Explanations of First-Class and List A status courtesy of the ACS.
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Profile:
One of the finest and most reliable bowlers in county cricket for more than
10 years, Martin Bicknell has played disappointingly little international
cricket due mainly to bad luck with injuries in his early career.
Bicknell made his county debut in 1986, at the age of just 17. 6'3"
tall, with a classical, side-on action and a good command of seam and sing,
Bicknell developed from Guildford club cricket and the Surrey organised
Nescafe scheme. He toured with England Young Cricketers to Sri Lanka in
1986-87 and Australia in 1987-88 and soon became a fixture in the Surrey
side, taking 9-45 against Cambridge University in 1988 and winning his cap
in 1989, the year he took 65 first-class wickets. This earned a place on the
A tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya, where he performed with merit.
In the batsman-dominated summer of 1990, Bicknell continued his
development with 67 wickets at 27, and was selected for England's tour of
Australia. He performed well, and earned his one-day international debut,
against New Zealand (in the same game as Phil Tufnell) in Perth, during
December 1990. However, on the verge of a Test debut, he broke down with a
side strain. He missed much of 1991 too, but was included in the A team to
the West Indies, before dislocating his shoulder and missing the tour,
though he was on stand-by for the World Cup of 1991-92. 1992 proved a better
year. With 71 wickets and his career best score of 88 against Hampshire at
Southampton, it was a surprise when he was omitted from the touring teams
announced for that winter.
The summer of 1993 saw Bicknell's only Test caps to date. Having been
12th man at Trent Bridge, he made his debut at Leeds, starting well with the
wicket of Mark Taylor. However, the Australians fought back to 653-4 and
Bicknell finished with 1-155 in 50 overs of hard toil. A second innings
"golden" duck, and a loss by an innings and 148 runs completed an unhappy
start. However, he was retained for the following game, as one of only two
seamers - Mark Ilott was the other. He performed well, though England lost
again, but was forced to pull out of the following Test with a strain of his
knee ligaments; an injury that subsequently saw him flown home from the A
tour to South Africa. Still very much in the selectors thoughts, he
struggled to return to his best form, hampered by a stress fracture of the
right foot in 1994, and a further dislocation of the shoulder. He broke down
in 1995 too, and was now behind players such as Gough and Cork in the
pecking order, although when fit he was still a challenging proposition as
41 wickets at 21 for the season indicate. He remained injury free
("remarkably" according to Wisden) and took 66 wickets in 1996, and managed
much of 1997, his benefit year, before knee ligament problems again halted
his progress.
The next few years have been, perhaps, the most productive of Bicknell's
career. In 1998 he took 65 first-class wickets, followed by 71 in 1999, and
scored 432 runs, in the championship. Match figures of 16-119 (7-72 and
9-47) against Leicestershire at Guilford in July 2000 were the best figures
recorded in England since 1956. He finished the season with 60 wickets and
500 runs, playing a vital all-round role in Surrey's retention of the County
Championship.
Possibly thought to lack the pace to make him a threat at Test level, and
certainly prone to injuring himself at the wrong time, in these later years
Martin Bicknell became a victim of the understandable desire by the
selectors to invest in youth. A return to Test cricket cannot be ruled out,
as he remains as effective a performer as anyone in English conditions and
is one of the most respected performers in county cricket. Career figures of
over 800 wickets at under 25 each illustrate his worth with the ball, while
a batting average of 21, with 18 first-class half-centuries increase his
value. Recognition for his contribution to county cricket came in the form
of nomination as one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year for 2000. His
brother, Darren, has been one of the most consistent opening batsmen in
county cricket, firstly with Surrey before moving on to Nottinghamshire.
(Copyright CricInfo 2001)
Last Updated: Saturday, 09-Nov-2002 09:32:02 GMT
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